Cold War Kids
by BethSHeartbeat
Summary: A new case has been given to the UCOS team. Who killed Ronald Truman and has it any link to the death of Walter Dawson? Surely if anyone can solve it then it's the UCOS team?
1. Chapter 1

"Where's Sandra?" Gerry asked after having been in the office five minutes and was only just realising that Sandra's purple coat hung from the coat hanger just inside her smaller office door.

"Strickland called down about fifteen minutes ago and said he had a new case for us, she's gone up to get the case files. She said something about it being an interesting one according to Strickland." Jack replied.

"He thinks anything related to work is interesting." Gerry mumbled.

"Yeah well we'll see what he's got for us. Where's Brian?"

"Esther rang just after you'd gone last night and said he had the dentist this morning and that he'd be in after lunch. It's probably all of that chocolate he consumes."

"Well you know Brian and his maltesers."

* * *

"Morning boys, we have a new case." Sandra called as she walked through the door ten minutes later.

"Is it as bad as the last? If I have to look at another crime scene as horrible as the last in the next month then I'm quitting."

"No, it's not graphic, in fact people walked by his for days thinking he was just another person sleeping on the streets." Sandra replied in answer to Gerry's question.

"What was it? Someone poisoned him? Drug overdose?"

"Strangulation." Jack told his friend as he picked one of the files up.

"Do you think you could let me do my job before we get to questions?" Sandra asked sarcastically.

"Feel free." Jack told her as he sat down on the sofa next to Gerry.

"This is Ronald Truman, born 7th April 1938." Sandra started as she pointed to a picture of an old looking man laying on the pavement down a quiet looking alleyway. "He was an American citizen who moved to Britain at the end of 1957. He was finally found to be dead on the 17th March 1996, post mortem examinations estimated that he'd been dead 3/4 days before being found. When an appeal for witnesses went out to the public, a handful of people came forward to tell us they'd seen him the afternoon of the 14th and thought he was asleep and then thought he was asleep until someone checked to make sure he was alive several days later, only to find that he wasn't. The statements focused on the fact that he hadn't been there the morning of the 14th which meant the original team put the time of death between 9 and 5."

"Killed in broad daylight and ignored for days? He really wasn't very lucky." Gerry sighed, feeling especially sorry for their latest victim.

"No he wasn't, so I think we should start reading over the original files and then talk to his remaining family. He has twin daughters Karen and Sarah." Sandra continued.

"Wait, why was this case put to the top of our pile of cases?" Jack asked curiously.

"Oh sorry, it was originally thought to be a Willie Jones who killed him and there was a clear motive..."

"Let me guess, our man here was sleeping with Willie's wife?" Gerry asked.

"No, daughter- Jennifer- she was 18 so it was all legal but Willie wasn't wild about the fact that his old friend was sleeping with his daughter however there was never enough evidence to find him guilty and he was acquitted in 1998. There was never enough evidence to suggest that it was anything to do with Willie."

"How did we figure that out?" Gerry asked, already being sure that it was this Walter guy.

"During routine retests of all open cases, a small fragment of DNA was extracted from Ronald's clothes which wasn't previously found. Forensics have found it to be saliva and in all probability the killer..."

"But it didn't match anyone on the DNA database?" Jack asked.

"No, but it did match DNA found on another unsolved murder, however the presence of his DNA at the scene of the second murder could be circumstantial as a Walter Dawson was found battered to death in the men's toilets at The White Horse."

"So we could have a serial killer on our hands?" Gerry asked.

"Two murders hardly warrants the label of a serial killer." Jack pointed out.

"We could have a double murderer on our hands, yes."

"So are we not investigating the death of Walter Dawson?" Jack clarified.

"Not unless we find a link, if we do then we start investigating. Unless you have any more questions, then let's get started."

**A/N I'm studying for 21 exams this summer at the moment and I seem to remember fics easier than school work so I have decide to have fics based on the key facts that I need to know for exams so hopefully you'll learn to while reading. Enjoy this and the other fics that will come on other topics.**

**Beth x**


	2. Chapter 2

"Do we know why he moved here from America? That was the place to be at the time." Gerry asked as they all sat on the sofas reading from the case files.

"No, does it not say?" Sandra asked.

"No."

"It was hardly the place to be, to my memory it was a time of riots and racism. Hardly the land of the free." Jack interrupted.

"Yeah well if you ignore that bit." Gerry replied.

"Do you think it's important why he moved?" Sandra asked, ignoring the boys separate conversation as she finally looked up from the page she was reading.

"Nah, I was just interested. 18 year old lad moving across the pond without any family, there must have been a reason and I doubt it was anything to do with the British weather."

"Maybe he just wanted a new start." Jack pointed out.

"Yeah but why?" Sandra asked to no one in particular, instead she was wondering whether this was a question that needed investigation. "Maybe it's time to go and speak to Walter Jones, Jack you're with me. Gerry, go and speak to his daughter, Jennifer Jones, and see if there's anything she wants to add to her statement."

"Sure guv', do we know where she is?" Gerry asked, as Sandra grabbed her purple coat and bag from her office while Jack put his coat on.

"There's an address in the case files but I highly doubt she's still at the same address, you'll have to get on the phone and see what you can find out."

"Will do."

* * *

"Willie Jones?" Sandra asked politely.

"Yes, who's asking?" The old man replied, there was still an American twang to his voice but if you hadn't have known he had American roots then it'd have been barely recognisable.

"I'm DS Sandra Pullman, and this is my colleague Jack Halford, we're from the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad. We'd like to talk to you about the death of Ronald Truman, can we come in?"

"You're going to pin it on a 74 year old are you?" The man asked worriedly.

"No, we'd just like to ask a couple of questions."

"Come in then." The old man showed Sandra and Jack into his living room and watched them expectantly. "Well what do you want then?"

"We're reopening the case and we just wanted to know if you can remember anything else." Jack told the older man.

"No, not really. My memory isn't so good now a days."

"Okay, thanks." Jack started to move in order to leave before Sandra opened her mouth.

"When did you move over here?" The man studied Sandra's face for a moment and smiled.

"That's easy, 1957. I came over a month after Ronald, we lived near each other in Gatlinburg."

"Why did you move over here, both of you I mean?"

"That's also easy, the Rosenberg's had been put to death and Stalin had just died meaning that the Soviet Union had a new leader. Khrushchev had taken over and had announced Peaceful Co-existence and De-Stalinisation. We moved over here to be closer to the action and take regular trips to Berlin."

"Okay thanks, you've been very helpful." Sandra smiled, as she shook the older man's hand.

"So you're really not trying to blame me?" Willie asked Sandra quietly.

"No, we know it wasn't you." Sandra replied equally as quiet and then spoke up a bit. "If we need to talk to you again then we'll be back, take care." Sandra and Jack walked out of the front door and got into the car while Willie stood at the door, he wasn't smiling but you could see the happiness in his face at the fact that they knew he wasn't guilty.

* * *

"Got you!" Gerry cheered as he'd finally found out Jennifer's address after a long and mostly unsuccessful search. Jennifer was now 36 and had only been found through her recent filing of an intention of a civil partnership with Maria Yule. From there on it was a piece of cake finding her. Gerry grabbed his coat and car keys and made for the door.

As he got into his beloved Stag, his phone rang alerting him to the fact that Esther was calling.

"Hi Esther, everything alright?"

"Sorry, I tried the office phone but it was engaged and Sandra's mobile was off. Brian won't be back in today, he had a filling and he hasn't reacted well to the anaesthetic, he'll be in tomorrow though."

"Ah, well at least you'll have peace and quiet for a while. Bye Esther." He threw his phone down into the passengers seat and set off in search of Jennifer Jones.

* * *

"Hello, can I help you?" A tall red headed woman asked as she answered the door.

"Ah hello, I'm Gerry Standing and I work with the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad..." Gerry started as he showed the women his badge. "I'm here about the death of Ronald Truman."

"Ah, it's my partner you want then. Come in." Maria said as she led Gerry through to the living room in the modern flat. "I'm Maria, Jenny's partner, she won't be a minute she's just drying her hair. Can I get you a drink?"

"Coffee please, milk and two sugars please love." Gerry replied.

"Maria, if you're sticking the kettle on then make me a cuppa please babe." Jennifer called from the bedroom and then stopped as she reached the living room. "Who's this, baby?"

"Ah, this is Gerry Standing, he's with the police. They're reinvestigating Ronald..." Maria looked at Gerry for help with her explanation.

"Ronald Truman, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"Course you can."

"When did your affair with Ronald start?" Gerry began.

"About 6 months before my dad found out."

"You were the last known person to see Ronald before he died, what do you remember about that morning?"

"From what I was told after his death, it was the morning of the day he died. We'd stayed the night before at a hotel called The Black Bull, it was small and cheap but he didn't want his wife finding out and my dad had kicked me out. He left me at 8, he had to go to work and we'd arranged to meet the following Friday."

"Do you remember anything different about him? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"He kept saying that 'they'd' found him and that they were going to get him."

"What do you think he meant by that?" Gerry asked curiously.

"I thought he meant that my dad had found where he was hiding and that he'd warned him off. Only now, I don't know."

"Okay, well, I'll get out of your hair, but if you remember anything else then here's my number." Gerry said as he passed Jennifer a card. "Have a good day."


	3. Chapter 3

"Gerry?" Sandra called as she and Jack returned to the office, only to receive no replies. "I'm putting the kettle on, wanna cuppa Jack?"

"Yeah, why not? I'm just going to write up our findings on the board while we wait for Gerry to get back."

"Do you think I should make him a cup?" Sandra asked as she poured water from the kettle into two cups and, when Jack didn't respond, into a third.

* * *

"Guv'nor, I'm back." Gerry called as he walked in the office door and chucked his car keys down on the table.

"Just in time, your coffee's getting cold." Sandra told him, not even bothering to turn her head, as she sat comfortably on the sofa drinking her drink and staring at the whiteboard that was home to the details of their current case.

"Ah, thanks Guv'" Gerry said as he picked his coffee up and sat beside Sandra.

"So what did you get from the girlfriend?" Sandra asked curiously, only now looking over at him.

"Not my type but she is a looker so I can see why Ronald would want her, she's with a girl now though."

"I meant about the case."

"Oh, well she last saw before 9am on the day he was killed, her dad had just found out but Ronald's family didn't know. She also said something about Ronald saying that someone was after him."

"Ah, well, we'll need to do some digging on that. I think it's time we spoke to the wife..." Sandra began as she put down her mug and picked up the case files in search of Ronald's wife's name. "A Nancy Truman, now Front."

"It might be a bit late to go and see her." Jack pointed out as the small hand on the clock reached the four.

"Fine, we'll do that tomorrow. In the meantime I'd like some work done on the Rosenberg's, Stalin, Khrushchev and Berlin in the 50s." Sandra asked as she picked her mug back up and headed for her office.

"Why?!" Gerry asked as he stared at her with a look that was meant to say 'have you lost your mind?'.

"Well you asked why Ronald moved to the UK, Willie came over a month after Ronald in 1957, they both came from the same city and both came to be closer to the action in Eastern Europe." Sandra Added.

"Okay."

"We'll come together in an hour and see what we've got." Sandra called from her office as she typed Stalin into Google.

* * *

"1957 was still relatively early days with in the Cold War, by this time the USSR had taken over the majority of Eastern Europe, Truman had announced the Truman Doctrine 1947 which meant the USA would offer military help to any country fighting communism and then the Marshall Plan was announced to give money to countries to stop them ending up Communist." Jack began as he took over the job of being the font of knowledge in Brian's absence. "In 1949 Stalin blockaded West Berlin in hope of taking it back over, as it was a capitalist city surrounded by a sea of communism, it lasted 10 months before Stalin took it down. In 1949 NATO was formed and in response to that the Soviet Union announced the Warsaw Pact, the same year China became a Communist country."

"Stalin died in '53 didn't he?" Gerry asked.

"Yeah he did and as Willie said, he was replaced by a man called Nikita Khrushchev who announced Peaceful Co-existence and De-Stalinisation. From what I can find the first idea meant that Communism and capitalism could live side by side peacefully and that war should be avoided and the second meant that living standards would improve and publicly criticized Stalin." Sandra told the other two.

"All I could find was that there was an uprising in Hungary in 1956, although I don't think that's relevant and that the Rosenberg's were important American scientists who were accused of giving the secret of the atomic bomb to the Russians and they were executed for it." Gerry added. "Is any of this Cold War stuff really relevant though?"

"We don't know yet Gerry but if it is then we have some background knowledge now."


	4. Chapter 4

Brian came into the office early in an attempt to catch up on the team's newest case before they arrived but it was clearly in vain as Sandra arrived not long later with a take away coffee and box in her hands.

"Ah Brian, morning."

"Morning Sandra, I didn't expect to see you in here this morning." Brian told her as he turned to face her having now hung his coat and scarf oh their hanger.

"Ditto." Sandra replied as she laid her drink and box on the coffee table and then walked off in the direction of her office.

"I thought I'd catch up on the case so that we could get straight into it at 9." Brian told her while he booted his laptop up.

"You didn't have to do that."

"What are you doing here? This is early even by your standards." Brian pointed out.

"I thought I'd do some further digging to see if I can find anything that might help us today. I only have one coffee but would you like some of my pastry?" Sandra asked returning from her office, having thrown her bag down and hung her new purple coat up.

"Ta." Came the northerner's reply as Sandra tore her breakfast in two with her perfectly manicured nails and passed one half to Brian. "Looks like a good case."

"It's interesting I'll grant it that."

* * *

"So was there a plan for today?" Brian called through to Sandra, who was in her office, after having read through the case files.

"We were going to speak to the wife, see if she knew anything."

"What makes you think she'll want to speak to us? From the transcripts of interviews at the time, she sounded very bitter."

"Well she'd just found out her husband had been cheating on her." Sandra reasoned. "And nothing at all makes me think she'll speak but maybe with time being a healer and all that she'll have come round."

"Fiver says she doesn't." Gerry called cheerily as he walked in having heard Sandra's last comment.

"You're on." Sandra smiled as she went to him and shook his hand. "Did you see grumpy on your travels?"

"Yeah, he was just trying to find a parking space."

"And that is why bikes are best." Brian replied unable to stop himself from laughing whenever bikes came out on top.

"Anyway Gerry, you're coming to speak to Nancy Front with me seeing as you're so convinced that she won't speak. Brian you and Jack can track down the daughters, a Karen Knight and a Sarah McAdam." Sandra ordered.

"I only just got in, I hadn't even got my coat off yet."

"I'm just saving you the trouble, you don't need to take it off if you're going back out."

"Fine." Gerry replied with exaggerated grumpiness.

* * *

"Nancy?" Sandra asked as she knocked on the door of a bungalow on the Essex/London border. Sandra and Gerry were facing a tall woman who could easily have been a former model.

"Yeah. Who are you?" The woman replied with a further question.

"I'm DSI Pullman and this is my colleague Gerry Standing." Sandra started as she pulled her badge out to show the other woman. "We'd like to talk to you about your former husband, Ronald." Nancy's expression was one of pure shock.

"I don't want anything to do with him, I have a new life now. I've been married 14 years and have another child."

"Yeah but surely you'd like to know what happened to the father of your other children, if only for your girls sake." Sandra reasoned.

"Yes, yes. Come in." Nancy gave in, she was a bit too flustered to claim it was normal shock.

"Gerry put your tongue back in." Sandra whispered as Nancy led them through to the living room.

"Feel free to sit down." Nancy told them as she motioned to the sofa. "Would either of you like a drink?"

"Not for me." Gerry answered.

"A glass of water thanks." Sandra added.

* * *

Nancy returned minutes later with a glass of water in one hand and a mug of something for herself.

"Could you tell me when you met Ronald, Mrs. Front?" Gerry asked.

"Yeah, I met Ronald by Tower Bridge in the summer of 58."

"And you married in 59?" Sandra asked, checking that her facts were right.

"Yeah, whirlwind romance."

"You can't have been old enough to get married." Gerry complimented the brunette woman sitting opposite him.

"Thanks." Nancy laughed. "I like him. I imagine you have to keep him on a pretty tight leash." Nancy said as she turned to Sandra.

"Tighter than you could imagine, anyway, what was your marriage like?"

"It was a great marriage at first but he took a big interest in the events of Eastern Europe and the USA. The American interest I got, he was American after all but he had no like to Eastern Europe of the former Soviet Union. It became an obsession for him, he ate, slept and breathed all things Cold War."

"Did he ever mention anyone threatening him or somebody being out to get him?" Sandra asked.

"No, but by then he was spending more time with his tart." Nancy replied bitterly, behind the bitterness there was something else, something that Sandra couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Okay, that'll be all for now. Thank you Mrs. Front, if you think of anything else that might be important then ring this number." Sandra told the woman as she passed her a card with her number on.

* * *

"I think that's a fiver that you owe me." Sandra laughed as she got into the car.

"Fine, here." Gerry replied as he put his seatbelt on and then reached into his pocket and took a five pound note out and thrust it in Sandra's face. "Anyway what did you think of Nancy?"

"She's hiding something, there was something about her. Something that I can't quite put my finger on."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that." Gerry agreed as they set off back to the office.


	5. Chapter 5

"I've just passed Sandra and Gerry in the corridor, where are they off to?" Jack asked as he walked into the UCOS office.

"To speak to Nancy Front." Brian replied not even looking up from his laptop.

"Okay, what are we doing then?"

"I'm trying to find the two daughters. Karen's living near Hyde Park but Sarah is proving more difficult to find."

"No previous convictions?" Jack asked.

"One, running a brothel but the address she gave is in a building which has since been knocked down to make room for the Olympic Park." Brian replied.

"Oh."

"I'm trying to see if she has Facebook or Twitter to see if that says where she is."

"Why don't we go and see Karen first and then get back to the search for Sarah?" Jack asked.

"Yeah okay."

"Hello, I'm Jack Halford and this is my colleague Brian Lane and we're from UCOS." Jack began as he showed the a&amp;e receptionist their cards. "We'd like to speak to Karen Knight please."

"She's just finishing with a patient, I'll take you through to her office and she'll be with you as soon as possible." The more than helpful receptionist told them and then got up from her chair to lead them through to an office.

"Not bad for a NHS doctor." Jack commented once they'd been left alone in Karen's office.

"She's clinical lead, she runs this department." Brian replied.

"Even so." They didn't have time to finish their conversation as a woman opened the door. Karen was just the right side of 40 and was looking extremely good for it.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Karen asked, her posh voice fitted perfectly with her look but not with her history.

"Erm we'd like to talk to you about your dad." Jack broached the potentially upsetting subject.

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

"What was your dad like?" Brian asked.

"He was a lovely man, he never missed anything that was important to me or my sister. He had an obsession with what was going on in the world and more specifically, Russia. I remember him teaching me all about it when I was growing up. Some of it even stuck, I remember Gorbachev became leader in '85 and that the Cold War was announced over by him and George Bush in Malta in 1989."

"Anything else?"

"Not really, the Cold War was his passion, he was so determined to stop communism with in the east. I think that's where I got my determination from."

"Did he ever seem scared or frightened in the months leading up to his death?" Jack asked carefully.

"Yeah actually, him and mum were on a rocky patch and he seemed to be even more vigilant than usual. I don't know why though."

"Okay thank you for your time..." Jack began.

"One last thing, you wouldn't happen to know where your sister is would you?"

"Yeah, she lives in Russia."

"Do you have a contact number? It's just we'd like to ask her some questions too, see if she remembers anything that might be of use."

"Yeah sure." Karen replied and then wrote Sarah's number down on a piece of paper and handed it to them. "Will you keep me up to date with how the case is progressing please?"

"Of course we will." Brian promised her as they left her office and them the hospital.

"What do you think?" Jack asked.

"She was very sincere and more than willing to help. I think she was a bit of a daddy's girl. She has no reason to lie."

"Glad we're thinking along the same lines."


	6. Chapter 6

"I suppose we should try and call Sarah McAdam." Jack told Brian as he put a fresh cup of tea down on Brian desk.

"Yeah."

"I'll put a sign up on the door in case Sandra and Gerry come back." Jack replied as he picked a sheet of A4 paper up and wrote 'Be quiet we're on the phone on loudspeaker.' before sticking it up to the double doors into the UCOS office.

Brian dialed in the number that Karen gave them and put the phone onto loudspeaker.

"Алло." Sarah answered.

"Erm hello, is that Sarah McAdam?" Jack asked.

"That depends, who might you be?"

"I'll take that as a yes, I'm Jack Halford and the other person is my colleague Brian Lane and we work for the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad here in London."

"And?"

"We're reinvestigating the death of your father, Karen gave us your number."

"I have nothing to say about that piece of dirt."

"Why do you call him that?"

"He cheated on my mum and he was against communism." Sarah replied.

"What do you mean he was against Communism?" Brian asked.

"He came to the UK to be closer to the events behind the supposed Iron Curtain, all of our family holidays were to West Berlin. My family are originally Russian, in fact my grandparents were Russian. He had no right to do what he did."

"What did he do?" Brian asked.

"I have nothing more to say and tell Karen not to go giving my number to coppers." Sarah said angrily as she slammed the phone down.

"Well she wasn't quite the ray of sunshine that her sister was." Jack commented.

"You can say that again, I wonder what she meant though?."

"I think we need to phone Sandra and Gerry and see if they can ask Nancy about her family tree."

"Too late." Sandra replied as she walked through the door. "What the hell is this note about?"

"We were talking to Sarah, who lives in Russia now, she said something about her family being Russian and I doubt it was anything to do with her father's side of the family." Jack told his boss.

"Well there was something about the mother that I just couldn't put my finger on." Sandra answered.

"Well Ronald did cheat on her!" Brian interrupted.

"No, there was something beyond the bitterness." Gerry told them too.

"What did you get from the other daughter?" Sandra asked.

"She had nothing but praise for her dad, she did say that he seemed on edge in the months leading up to his death." Jack recounted.

"He could have been on edge about his affair coming out." Gerry suggested.

"You'd know all about that." Sandra replied cheekily and then flashed him a grin to soften the blow of her words. "Anyway, I think we need to do a bit more digging before we go back to Nancy. Jack and Gerry you can do some work on the family tree and Brian you and I are going to do a bit more digging into the events of the Cold War seeing as the link is getting stronger with every person we talk to."

"Brian have you found anything?" Sandra asked once Gerry and Jack had left to speak to someone who could help with family tracing.

"I started in 1961 as that was the year that the Berlin Wall went up, Castro announced that he was a Communist and the American's invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs."

"Bay of Pigs?" Sandra asked curiously.

"The USA didn't like Cuba's links with the USSR so the CIA organized 1400 Cuban exiles to invade in an attempt to overthrow Castro, only it failed so Castro announced that he was a communist." Brian explained.

"That's what led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of '62?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah."

"Then in 1965 the US invaded South Vietnam and then in '68 the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia." Sandra told Brian what she'd found.

"Yeah, after this there was a period called 'Détente', the 75 there was a link up in space. Détente didn't last long though as in '79 the USSR invaded Afghanistan."

"Then in '81 Reagan became president." Sandra interrupted. "And Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union in '85."

"Yeah, that's all the basics of the Cold War." Brian told her.

"Okay, I'd like Ronald Truman's travel records, can you get on that please? I'm going to speak to Willie Nelson again."

"Will do guv'. If the boys come back don't tell them where I've gone."

"What shall I tell them if they ask?" Brian asked.

"I don't know, make it up."


	7. Chapter 7

"Willie, I need you to tell me the truth this time." Sandra told the old man as he opened the door and she pushed past him.

"Come in." Willie replied sarcastically seeing as she was already in the house, he followed her through to the living room where she sat watching him expectantly. "What do you mean? You told me you knew that I was telling the truth."

"And I stand by that." Sandra told him bluntly.

"Then what do you want?" The old man asked nervously.

"You may have told us the truth and you may not have murdered him but I think there was some things that you omitted to tell us."

"Such as?"

"You and Ronald were campaigning against Communism behind the so called Iron Curtain. Tell me the truth and this time the full truth."

"Okay, we made frequent trips to East Berlin until 1961, it was the gap in the Iron Curtain."

"What did you do there?"

"We kept under the radar and tried to spread the idea of capitalism and to rebel against their communist governments. There were groups of pro-communism who knew who we were and what we were doing and they were after us."

"Did they ever catch up with you?" Sandra asked, her expression now softening.

"Not that I know of, the wall went up in 61 so we couldn't get in and they couldn't get out. I'm sure by the time it came down in 1990 I'm sure they had more important things to worry about than us, I doubt they even remembered us!"

"Did Ronald seem okay in the weeks leading up to his death?" Sandra asked, an idea suddenly popped into her head, a new line of enquiry and now seemed as good a time as any to ask.

"God, it was years ago!" Willie protested.

"I know, just try and remember for me though please."

"He seemed on edge, I didn't think it was odd though. Our friend had just died and so I just assumed that was the reason, I never asked though."

"Was your friend Walter Dawson by any chance?" Sandra asked as it all snapped into place in her head.

"Yeah, why?" Willie asked suspiciously.

"Did he come over from America with you?" Sandra asked, she hadn't really looked at the case file for Willie Dawson, all she'd known was that they were about the same time and there was a DNA connection that could have all been circumstantial, that theory was looking less likely by the second though.

"No, Walter was British. Ronald met him and then introduced me to him when I came over to the UK. He shared our views on Communism and soon we were thick as thieves."

"Okay, is that the full truth this time?"

"Yes, that's all that I can remember!"

"Okay, well you have my number if you remember anything else." Sandra said, she stood back up, thanked the old man for his time and then left.

"Where's the guv'nor?" Gerry asked as him and Jack walked back into the office.

"She's out." Brian told them.

"Well we figured that out!" Jack replied. "Where has she gone?"

"Chemists, didn't ask why before you ask." Brian told them, he looked back down at his computer to hide his face, he wasn't all that great at lying and he didn't want to be caught out even if he didn't understand why he was meant to keep it a secret. All he knew was that Sandra's bark was just as bad as her bite and he didn't fancy being in the firing line.

"Probably woman trouble." Gerry commented as he took his coat off.

"She's a bit old for that isn't she?" Jack asked.

"I wouldn't let her hear you saying that." Gerry laughed, "She'd probably find the most gruesome way to kill you."

"I'm not that bad Gerry, anyway what shouldn't I hear?" Sandra laughed as she breezed into the UCOS office, she often wondered what the boys said about her behind her back and every time she got an insight she wished she hadn't.

"Nothing!" Jack replied a bit too quickly and went red, immediately alerting Sandra to the fact that whatever had been said had come from Jack's mouth.

"This time I will leave it at that. I'm watching you though Jack!" Sandra told him, she tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing instead, when it came to the boys she never was great at keeping a straight face.


	8. Chapter 8

"Right, Gerry I want you and Jack to go and talk to Karen Knight and find out more about her sister and about her family history. She seems to be the only one in that family who are co-operating. Brian I want you to go and see what we have for this case in the evidence store and I have some phone calls to make." Sandra told her boys as things were all beginning to seem clear.

* * *

"Karen Knight?" Jack called as he passed her in the ED corridor.

"Have you found who killed my dad?" Karen asked.

"Not yet, this is my colleague Gerry Standing and we were wondering if we could talk to you again."

"Well I have a major RTC coming in, let me just go and sort my team out ready so that they won't need me. I could be called out at any point though."

"That's fine." Gerry replied.

"Well I'll get Marco to let you into my office and get you drinks, I won't be long." Karen told them before rushing off. A young man wearing a maroon top greeted them and showed them to Karen's office and left them there while he went to get them drinks. The office was nicely decorated with a wall of photos.

"Recognize anyone?" Jack asked as he pointed to a picture of Karen, her sister and her parents when she was young.

"Well it all seems happy families there, something major obviously happened. " Gerry replied.

"I just wonder whether it was before or after Ronald's death."

* * *

"I hope Marco's looked after you." Karen started as she breezed into her office and collapsed onto her chair.

"He did, are you okay Mrs Knight?" Gerry asked worriedly.

"Oh you know, rushing round saving life's doesn't go without exhaustion. Anyway, what was it that you wanted to know?"

"Well your sister was less than helpful and your mother is still very bitter over the affair so we thought we'd get more out of you."

"Well I can't promise anything but what is it you'd like to know?"

"Is your mother's side of the family Russian?" Jack asked.

"Yes, I never knew that growing up but we suddenly began getting phone calls and when I answered if whoever was on the other end was always speaking a different language and then sometimes I heard my mother talking it too."

"When did that begin?" Gerry asked, wondering if it could be linked to Ronald's death.

"About the beginning of '95. Sorry but how is this relevant?"

"We aren't sure yet but it's best to have all available information."

"Are we done here then?" Karen asked as someone hovered outside the door.

"One more thing, why does your sister hate your late father so much?" Gerry asked her.

"If only I knew, she was never like this when he was alive, in fact she was daddy's little princess. I don't know what happened but in '99 she moved out to Russia and last I heard, she'd joined some Communist movement. I did think that maybe she just didn't like daddy's beliefs but then that doesn't explain how much she hates him, it can't just be different ideologies. Now I really must be going, I'd love to be able to talk but I don't know that much and I run a very busy department. If you need me then anytime after 4 in the afternoon you can find me at my home address." She told the two older men as she wrote her address on a slip of paper and handed it to them.

"Thank you Mrs Knight, you have been more than helpful." Jack told her before both men left the hospital.

* * *

"I honestly don't think she knows anymore than that, whatever it is her sister knows the memo clearly skipped Karen." Gerry said as he got into Jack's car.

"I think you're right."


End file.
